Something More
by Milotic
Summary: Misty has been hit by Darkrai's Nightmare attack. The Lunar Wing will help, but, Cresselia warns Ash, it will take something more to truly free Misty from her demons. AAML.
1. Chapter 1

Something More

Something More

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do, however, own this story.

Note: This story contains some spoilers for DP episodes that have yet to air outside of Japan, so if you don't want to be spoiled don't read the fic.

The waves gently lapped against the shore of the old port city. If one listened closely one could hear the faint sound of boats blowing their horns as they pulled into the harbor to unload their cargo (or, in some cases, passengers). The distant smell of sea salt permeated the air, and a sea breeze tussled the perfect hair styles of the many women actively strolling about the city (much to their chagrin, of course). Such was life in Canalave City, Sinnoh...

"I'm hungry! When are we going to get something to eat?"

Ash Ketchum leapt to his feet, nearly knocking down his Pikachu in the process. The small mouse Pokemon sparked its cheeks threateningly, but Ash, quick to see the signs of an angry Pikachu and all too aware of what could happen when he had an angry Pikachu on his hands, apologized before any real damage could be done.

"Ash, we just got here! Can't we at least take some time to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city before we go off to get something to eat? The sea breeze smells wonderful!"

Ash noticed that Dawn, his blue-haired traveling companion, was looking at him sternly. Did he want to press the matter? After all, an angry Dawn was almost as bad as an angry Pikachu, although neither was as bad as an angry Misty...

Misty. Why did he always find himself thinking about Misty? It seemed as though no matter what he was thinking about, Ash's mind almost always turned to his friend and former traveling companion back in his homeland Kanto. Why was that? He never used to think of Misty like this when he was traveling with her. It was strange, so very strange...

"Hello! Ash?!"

Dawn's voice snapped Ash back to reality, and, blushing slightly at having been caught thinking about Misty (not that Dawn knew he was thinking about his redheaded friend, or that the fact that he was thinking about her meant anything—they were just friends, after all), although he wasn't sure why he was blushing, Ash turned towards his friend and realized that he had no idea what they had been talking about.

"Yeah, Dawn? What is it?"

"Well, one minute we were talking about food and the next you were completely spacing out," Dawn explained.

Food! That's right! They had been talking about food! Was he ever hungry!

"Yeah, can we get something to eat? I'm starving!" Having remembered how hungry he was, Ash was now determined to get some food into his belly.

"Ash, didn't you hear what Dawn said? We just got here and it would be nice to, you know, enjoy the atmosphere a bit," Ash's older friend and longtime traveling companion Brock reminded him.

"That's just it, Brock! The salt in the air is making me hungry!"

As Ash finished his statement a loud growl suddenly erupted from his stomach, proving his point. His friends sighed and decided to give in and to go get something to eat.

"Last one there has to pay!" Ash challenged, rushing off towards the nearest restaurant and, for the time being, forgetting all about Misty...

* * *

"Ash, that's your fifth bowl of rice!" Dawn exclaimed in horror, looking at her friend's swollen abdomen in shock.

"Sowhat'sittoyou?!" Ash replied incomprehensibly, his mouth full of food.

"Say that again?" Dawn tilted her head towards the raven-haired boy, her deep blue eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I said, 'what's it to you?'" Ash stated angrily. Why hadn't Dawn understood him the first time he had spoken? What was she deaf or something? "Didn't you hear me the first time?"

"I heard you, Ash, but I couldn't quite make out what you said considering all of the food you had in your mouth," Dawn said with a cocky grin, glad to be able to tease Ash. It was one of her favorite pastimes.

"So what? I'm a healthy growing boy, you know!"

"The only things about you that are growing are your stomach and your ego—"

"OK, that's enough!" Brock knew he had to interrupt the argument before it got out of hand. Jeez, it was almost as bad as having Ash and Misty together...almost. Nothing could be as bad as having Ash and Misty together, which, unfortunately, was about to happen, Brock suddenly remembered.

"So, Ash, when is Misty getting here?" The aspiring Pokemon breeder decided to change the subject before more fighting could ensue.

"Oh! Misty should be here any minute now," Ash stated with excitement. He had forgotten all about Misty! (After all, Ash forgot about everything but food while he was eating.) Boy, was he excited to see her! Ash hadn't seen Misty since before he had left to travel throughout Kanto to take on the Battle Frontier challenge, and that had been some time ago. After all, he had successfully completed the challenge and traveled through a good portion of Sinnoh since then.

Ash sighed. Misty, who was a gym leader in Cerulean City and a water Pokemon expert, worked so hard that she rarely had time to take off. Because of this he was quite surprised when she wrote to inform him that her sisters had decided to take over the gym for her for a week as a gift for working so hard for so long. When he called her later that night she had asked, quite sheepishly, Ash had noticed, if she could come see him during her time off.

It was so very strange, though; she seemed almost embarrassed to be asking, and her face was slightly red when she did. Were her sisters getting her to wear makeup? He knew that his mother was known to wear some stuff called rouge from time to time that would make her look as though she were blushing. Misty wasn't really the type to wear makeup, though, but why would she be embarrassed to ask him if she could come visit? Girls...who would ever understand them?

"It'll be really nice to see her again, won't it, Ash?" Brock questioned, bringing Ash back to the conversation.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I can't wait to show her Buizel and all of the badges I've earned!" Ash exclaimed happily.

"Don't you think we'd better head over to the inn where we said we'd meet her?" Dawn reminded her friends. They had planned to meet Misty at an old inn near the Canalave City harbor.

"Oh, you're right! Last one there is a rotten Togepi!" With that Ash dashed out of the restaurant, rushing towards the inn so that he could finally see his good friend.

* * *

"Dawn, what time is it now?" Ash whined, looking at his friend with an expectant expression on his face.

"Ash, how many times are you going to ask me that?" Dawn seemed rather annoyed by Ash's question.

"Well, you're the one with the Poketch!" Ash responded, as if the fact that Dawn had the digital watch made it OK for him to constantly bug her about the time.

Dawn sighed. "Well, it's been three minutes since you last asked me. You do the math. Why are you so anxious for her to get here, anyway?"

Ash was growing increasingly impatient. Misty had promised to meet them at the inn half-an-hour ago. What was taking her so long? Sure, Ash enjoyed watching the boats come in, and Canalave certainly was easy on the senses, what with the sound of the waves crashing against the piers and the smell of the salty air. Still, Ash couldn't help feeling bored and antsy. After all, he hadn't seen Misty in a very long time!

Despite all of this, even Ash was surprised by the intensity of his feelings. It was as if his whole body was tingling with excitement. Every time he thought of Misty (which was quite often at the moment) Ash felt as if his old Butterfree was flitting around in his stomach. Why would he feel like this? Sure, he was happy to be able to see Misty, especially because he hadn't seen her in such a long time, but why would he feel like this? This was something quite new. He had felt it when she met up with him in Hoenn to attend the Togepi Festival and again when she was waiting for him back at his house after he completed the Hoenn league, but the feeling seemed even stronger than it had those times; in fact, it seemed to become more intense with every time he saw her. Maybe it was just because he had gone without seeing her for so long this time. Yes, that must have been it.

"Pikachupi!"

Ash whipped his head around to see what his beloved Pikachu was making a fuss about, recognizing Pikachu's name for Misty. It couldn't really be her finally, could it? After waiting for her for so long (well, it hadn't really been that long, but to Ash it felt like it had been forever), the fact that she might have finally come seemed too good to be true, but when Ash looked in the direction Pikachu was pointing, he noticed a slim figure with a familiar lopsided ponytail making its way towards them.

"Hey, Misty!"

"Hey, Ash! Hey, Brock! Oh, and you must be Dawn!" Misty quickly approached the group of three, a big smile on her face. Ash couldn't help but feel his face growing warm at the sight of his friend. Why would he feel that way? It must have been his excitement over seeing Misty again. Gosh, it was so good to see her!

"Aren't you going to say hello back to me, Ash?" Ash noticed that Misty was standing with Brock and Dawn, and that each had a confused expression on his or her face. Ash realized that they must have been talking and that he had spaced out and missed the conversation...again.

"Hi, Misty! It's so great to finally see you!" Ash exclaimed happily. He knew that he would be glad to see Misty, but he hadn't expected to feel this excited about it. He felt so good then and didn't want the feeling to ever go away.

"It's good to see you, too, Ash. How have you been? What have you been up to?" Misty seemed genuinely interested in what was going on with Ash, which made the Pokemon trainer especially happy for some reason. What Misty thought of him had always been important to him, but now it seemed especially so.

"Well, Misty, we just got here from Hearthome City, where Dawn won her third ribbon and where I won my fifth badge. Fantina, the gym leader, and her ghost Pokemon were really tough, but Turtwig really came through with its Bite attack. Now we're here in Canalave so I can challenge Sinnoh's sixth gym leader, Byron," Ash explained.

"Wow, Ash, it seems like you've really been up to a lot," Misty began, "and congratulations on your third ribbon, Dawn. I saw how you won the Wallace Cup on television and can tell that you're a really great coordinator."

"Thanks, Misty," Dawn stated rather shyly. "I mean, I guess I'm OK. Ash did really well in the Wallace Cup, too, though."

"Ash? I thought Ash choked against that Lanturn!" Misty replied with a laugh.

"What? I did not!" Ash responded indignantly.

"Did so!" Misty countered.

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"Did—"

"Alright, that's enough!" Brock managed to interject. "Will you two cut it out? You've only just met again and you're already fighting!"

"Well, she started it," Ash stated simply.

"Sorry, Ash. I guess I shouldn't have made that comment about you choking. I hope you know that I didn't mean it. I mean, I know that you did really well in the Wallace Cup, too. I saw what a great appeal you and Buizel made," Misty replied.

"Yes, you did—what?" Ash couldn't help himself; he was ready to retaliate and argue back at Misty when he heard the tail-end of what she had said. Did she really say what he thought she had said?

"I said that I'm sorry, Ash. I shouldn't have started an argument because you really did do well in the Wallace Cup," Misty repeated.

"Oh, um, thanks, Misty." Once again Ash felt his face beginning to grow hot. Why did receiving a compliment from Misty make him feel that way? What did that mean? She had been sorry for starting the argument, too; that was very different from the Misty he knew. What was going on with her? Before Ash had much time to ponder this question Misty interrupted with a question of her own.

"Ash, can I see your Buizel? I know it's a water Pokemon, and you know how I love water Pokemon. I'd like to see your Piplup, too, Dawn, if that's OK," Misty finished.

"Sure, Misty!" Ash exclaimed happily, his thoughts now on Pokemon and the strange feelings he was beginning to associate with Misty long forgotten...

* * *

Misty greatly enjoyed playing with both Piplup and Buizel. The two Pokemon competed for Misty's attention (each thought of itself as the best); Piplup showed off the Whirlpool attack that won its master the Wallace Cup and Buizel demonstrated the Water Pulse attack that it had learned to gain Ash a victory against Maylene in Veilstone City. Soon, though, everyone agreed that it was getting late and decided to go inside the old inn and call it a night.

Ash stared at the inside of the old inn in awe. What looked like Spinarak webs dotted the corners of the ceiling, and ancient portraits of old seamen hung along the decaying walls. The old floorboards sighed underneath his weight as he walked, causing Ash to gleefully walk back and forth across them until he received an angry glare from Misty. The whole place seemed at once both dilapidated and spooky. Ash figured that Misty would hate it, but he thought it was just plain cool.

"Excuse me, sir, but we've booked a room for four for the next week in this inn," Brock began, addressing an elderly man at the inn's front desk. The old man grinned at the group of four, a funny, almost sympathetic grin that gave away the fact that he was missing many teeth. His scraggly white beard hung low over his chest, and his head was completely devoid of hair.

"Ahh, yes, you have room twelve. You should have an, ahh, interesting stay," the old man replied.

"Sir, what exactly do you mean by that?" Misty questioned. Ash could sense the anxiety in her voice and smiled at the fact that he was right in thinking that Misty would hate this place. The thought of being able to tease Misty about her fear of the inn for the next week almost made Ash giddy.

"Well, miss, it's just that there are stories about room twelve, particularly about the bed to the right of the window," the innkeeper responded.

Ash could hear Misty gulp. He was going to have a great time!

"What do you mean by stories?" Misty stated softly.

"Well, they're just stories, little lady," the old man began, "but some people who have stayed in room twelve have disappeared and never been heard from again not long after they have left the inn and finished their stay in room twelve."

"They just disappeared?" Brock questioned, his head cocked to the side in curiosity. "That's all there is to the story?"

"Err, not quite. You see, the friends of the people who have disappeared claim that those who have disappeared spoke of dreaming of a strange Pokemon; this was especially true of people who slept in the bed to the right of the window," the innkeeper explained.

"I don't think I like this at all," Misty confessed, a look of dread spreading across her face. "Can't we stay in another room?"

"I'm afraid not, miss. All of the other rooms are occupied at this time."

"Maybe we should stay at the Pokemon Center instead," Misty offered, fear still apparent in her face.

"No way, Misty! We already paid for this room! Besides, I think it sounds cool!" Ash exclaimed.

"You would," Misty retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash was ready for a fight if Misty wanted to start one.

"Guys, not now, please," Brock pleaded. He then turned towards Misty. "I hate to say it, Misty, but Ash is right. We did already pay for the room, and I don't want to have wasted our money. Besides, these are just stories; I highly doubt they're true."

"Fine," Misty pouted, "but there's no way I'm sleeping in the bed to the right of the window."

"That's perfectly OK, Misty, because I'm going to be the one to sleep in that bed!" Ash stated boldly.

Everyone else just sweat dropped. No one wanted to argue with Ash, mainly because no one (even if Misty was the only one to admit it) really wanted to stay in that bed.

* * *

Ash settled into his bed, Pikachu asleep by his side. The wind howled outside of the window, and it felt good to snuggle under the warm covers. Ash smiled contently and looked over towards his friends. Both Brock and Dawn had already fallen asleep, he noticed, but Misty lay awake in her bed, wide-eyed and obviously frightened.

"What's the matter, Misty? Afraid of a little story?" Ash whispered across the room to the gym leader.

"Me? N-n-no, of course not!" Misty stated, although her voice certainly betrayed her.

"Yeah, right. Goodnight, Mist. Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

Misty stuck her tongue out at Ash, who rolled over and fell asleep.

It was then that he began to have the strangest dream...

Author's Note: It's been a while since I've written anything for this website, and it's good to be back. I'd been working on some personal writing, but became somewhat disenchanted with it (read: started to dislike it), so I decided to start a new fanfic instead. I'm not too pleased with how this chapter turned out, but I'm pretty excited to be writing this fic, and I think it'll get better as it goes along. (Oh, and don't worry; there will be plenty of AAML in it.)

I know this fic isn't what I said I was going to write, but the idea came to me while I was lying in bed last week and I decided I just had to write it. I'm sort of focusing on Ash's point of view of things like I have in the last two fics, so that's still kind of new to me. I find Misty much harder to write (so I guess you could say I'm just being lazy) and am afraid that I always make her sound too "emo," so I'm hoping that by taking a break from writing her I'll be better at writing her when I go back to it (if that makes any sense), which I ultimately plan on doing.

Please review if you read and enjoy. :) Oh, and happy summer to those of you who have finished school!


	2. Chapter 2

Something More

Something More

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do, however, own this story.

There were flowers everywhere. Red ones, pink ones, yellow ones, purple ones: they were all he could see. Some were tall, reaching his knees, and others were short, barely making it past his ankles. As he walked he could feel them crunching under his feet, but, amazingly, they sprung right back up after his foot left them, as if the crushing presence of a young man's foot had not made itself know. Naturally their aroma, a pervasive and sweet smell, overwhelmed the senses, but it was not unpleasant. It was, in fact, anything but unpleasant.

Finding a spot of particularly fluffy looking floral, he laid down, and the flowers did indeed make a comforting pillow and mattress of sorts. Looking out over the field of budding plants, all he could see was a lovely rainbow of flowers. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

The sun had been shining brightly, but, suddenly, an overwhelming darkness began to cloak the entire field, and the flowers that were once all that could be seen for miles were no longer visible. It had been quite warm, but a chilly breeze began to blow, one that seemed to cool him from the inside out. He had been quite content, but fear began to take over as the dominant emotion.

Then he saw them. A pair of icy blue eyes shown through the darkness, piercing his sight and nearly blinding him. For a moment he could see nothing but them. After his vision adjusted, however, he noticed a strange appendage, an arm and a hand of sorts, curling towards him, as if summoning him, as if beckoning him...

* * *

Ash Ketchum awoke with a start, sweat cascading down his back and forehead. Gasping for breath, he clutched his chest as if it hurt him, although it did not; he was just scared and, perhaps most of all, confused by what had happened.

"Misty! Brock! Dawn! Wake up!" Ash yelled as loudly as he could, arousing his three friends just as he had wanted.

Brock, perhaps the most irritated at having been woken up from his sleep (for he had been dreaming of a particularly lovely Nurse Joy), spoke first.

"Ash, what is it!? Why did you have to wake us up!?" Brock was clearly angry and aggravated, but Ash paid no mind to his older friend's frustrated demeanor.

"Brock, the weirdest thing happened to me! I was in this field with all of these flowers and it was so beautiful but then it got all dark and cold and then all I could see were these weird blue eyes but then I could see an arm and a hand and—"

"It sounds like you had quite an interesting dream, Ash," Dawn interrupted, having remembered the story the innkeeper had told them the pervious night as well as Ash's enthusiasm about sleeping in the bed to the right of the window.

"This was no dream, Dawn! I was really there! The hand, it seemed like it was calling to me, like it was inviting me to come closer, but just as I was going to I woke up!" Ash could barely contain his excitement. At first he had been startled and even slightly scared by these events, but those feelings had quickly given way to ones of enthusiasm, for Ash was now dying to share his adventure with his friends, and to perhaps even find whatever it was that had been calling to him.

"Ash, do you really expect us to believe that you were somehow teleported out of your bed last night to some strange field and then transported back to your bed by some magical force or something?" Brock, always the rational member of the group, questioned a very hyped up Ash.

"I know it doesn't make sense, Brock, but I swear it happened!" Ash proclaimed loudly. "I can't explain it, but I know I was there. I could feel the flowers under me and the sun shining on me and then the cold breeze and—"

"Whoa, just calm down a moment, Ash," Brock began. "It sounds like you just had a very realistic and lifelike dream. After all, the old innkeeper did say that people who slept in that bed were known to have strange dreams."

"This was no dream, though!" Ash was growing increasingly frustrated. Didn't anyone believe him? He glanced at Pikachu, who looked back at him sympathetically, as if it, too, thought its master was going crazy. It was then that Ash realized that there was someone who hadn't spoken yet.

"Misty! You believe me, right?" Ash stated hopefully.

"I...I don't know," Misty replied softly.

"You don't know?" both Brock and Dawn exclaimed at the same time, as if they couldn't belief that anyone would possibly put any faith in Ash's crackpot story.

"It's just that, well, I don't think that Ash would lie, and there are the stories that the innkeeper told us last night."

"Thank you, Misty," Ash stated gratefully.

"Misty, you can't possibly believe that innkeeper," Brock said incredulously. "Yes, he said that people have had funny dreams in that bed, so perhaps Ash did have a strange dream, but there can't be anything more to this than that," the Pokemon breeder reasoned.

"What about the people who disappeared, though? Maybe the dreams are real and maybe Ash really did go to some other dimension or something and maybe he'll be taken back there and then disappear for good like all of the other people did," Misty argued, although there was barely an argumentative tone to her voice; if anything, she seemed rather frightened and shaken.

Ash noticed how clearly distressed his friend was. It hurt him to see her like that for some reason. He wanted to protect her, to make her feel better, to somehow reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere.

"It's OK, Misty. I just won't sleep in that bed again. Don't worry, because I'm not going anywhere." Ash went over to the shaken gym leader and protectively placed his arm around her, hoping to somehow comfort her. It seemed to work at least a little, for, although she flinched at first, Misty seemed to quickly relax under Ash's touch.

"Guys, what's this?" Dawn suddenly asked, successfully gaining everyone's attention. Ash looked over to see what had interested her, and noticed her holding what appeared to be an ancient book. "I don't think it was here last night."

"Let me see that," Brock requested, and, taking the book from Dawn, began to examine the old artifact.

"It seems to be some sort of diary," the aspiring Pokemon breeder concluded after looking through some of the few pages that were left in the book.

"Cool! Can I see it?" Ash questioned, forgetting all about Misty for the moment and making his way towards Brock so he could look at the diary.

"Go ahead and look at it, Ash, but don't expect to gain any information from it. It's mostly gibberish to me," Brock confessed.

Ash quietly thumbed through the old book, being extra gentle with the worn pages, for what seemed like forever. He wasn't sure what exactly he was searching for, but something seemed to compel him to continue to look through the diary. He was on the second-to-last page when he found something very interesting.

"Guys, listen to this!" Ash began. "Travel north from Canalave City until you have passed the two islands. It is on the third island, the island of flowers, that you will find it," he read aloud. "I think this is it, guys! This must be where I went last night and this must be how to locate the creature I encountered!"

Brock and Dawn sweat dropped. Misty looked even more frightened.

Seeing the disbelieving looks on Brock and Dawn's faces, Ash again grew frustrated. "Guys! It makes perfect sense! I went to this place last night and met this creature, which must be some type of cool Pokemon, and now this diary has appeared to show me how to get to that place and how to meet this Pokemon. Don't you see? I have to go there so I can meet this Pokemon! It must be destiny or something!"

Brock and Dawn just looked even more skeptical. "Ash," Dawn began, "I think maybe this dream had shaken you up a little. Maybe you didn't get enough sleep last night."

"It wasn't a dream!" Ash was practically screaming now. Why couldn't they just believe him? It all made perfect sense! Looking at his two friends again, Ash realized that there was probably no way he was going to convince them. Undeterred, he pressed on.

"I have to go there. I'm going to go ask one of the sailors in the harbor if he'll take me. The directions are easy enough, so it shouldn't be too difficult!"

"Ash, I think this is a really bad idea," Brock began. "I mean, who knows how old this diary is, and for all we know it may not be a diary at all but some kind of fictional story. This island and this Pokemon might not even exist," he stated wisely.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take!" Ash exclaimed enthusiastically. "So, does anyone want to go with me?"

Brock and Dawn both shook their heads, so Ash turned towards Misty, who, he remembered, had been silent for most of the conversation.

"What about you, Misty? What do you think about all of this?" Ash questioned.

"Me? I don't know, Ash. I don't think it's a good idea. Remember what the innkeeper said about those people who disappeared? Maybe they vanished while trying to look for this island," Misty stated softly, fear still evident in her voice.

"Misty, no one disappeared," Brock replied gently, hoping to ease the gym leader's discomfort. "Besides, Ash isn't going searching for this island," he finished sternly.

"Yes, I am! No one can stop me! Misty, are you going to come with me?" Ash asked hopefully.

Misty made no reply. Brock then answered for her.

"She's not going, Ash. I realize that we can't stop you from going, but if you're bent on going on this crazy adventure, you're going to have to go alone," Brock responded.

"Fine, that's just what I'll do!" Ash exclaimed daringly. So what if no one wanted to come with him? He didn't need anyone. He'd just get to see the cool Pokemon and they wouldn't. It would be their loss.

"Come on, Pikachu!" When Pikachu looked less than enthusiastic about going on this adventure, Ash glared at it, and, deciding it was its duty to obey its master, it scampered after Ash, who had quickly forgotten his initial fear and was filled with excitement.

* * *

"Pikachu, this stinks. No one will help us," Ash whined.

"Pika, Pikapi," Pikachu stated sympathetically.

Ash had gone to nearly every sailor in Canalave Harbor, but not one had agreed to take him to the island that the diary described. Each had stated, quite firmly, in fact, that no such island existed and that trying to look for one would be little more than a waste of time. Filled with frustration, Ash was just about ready to give up when he spotted one last sailor who he had not yet asked for help.

"Ash!"

Whipping around, Ash looked for the source of the voice that had called his name. Much to his surprise, he saw a slim female with yellow shorts and a yellow and red top running towards him.

"Misty? What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let you go alone, Ash," Misty stated earnestly. "What if something were to happen to you?"

Ash couldn't help but feel touched. He knew that Misty had been beyond scared by all of this, but she had still decided to come with him on his journey. Why would she do that? Shrugging, Ash decided that he was just happy that Misty was there. To be honest, he had wanted to share this moment with someone and had wanted someone to be with him when he met the cool Pokemon, and at that moment he decided that, though he wasn't sure why, there was no one he would rather spend this time with than Misty. Suddenly, though, a question entered his head.

"Brock really let you go? I didn't think he would let you come with me!"

"Well, that's the thing, Ash; Brock didn't want me to go with you. I had Azurill distract Brock and Dawn and then snuck out when they weren't looking," Misty explained.

"Wow, Misty! That's really clever!"

"Thanks, Ash," Misty replied, her face turning red. Why did her face keep doing that?

"Are you sure you want to go, though, Misty? I mean, I know this has you pretty frightened." For a change Ash wasn't teasing Misty, though; he was genuinely concerned about her well-being.

"I still think it's a really bad idea, Ash," Misty confessed, "but I know I'm probably not going to change your mind, and I don't want you to have to go alone."

"Thanks, Mist." Ash then remembered something. "There's just one problem, Misty."

"Hmm, what's that?"

"Well, no one seems to want to take me," Ash stated sheepishly.

"Oh, well. I guess we'll just have to head back to the inn then," Misty said cheerily.

"Wait! There's still one more person I haven't asked yet!"

Misty looked more than slightly disappointed, but followed Ash over towards the one sailor that Ash had yet to ask for help.

"Excuse me, sir, but I was wondering if you could help me out a little," Ash began, addressing an ancient looking sailor.

"Yes, young man? What is it?"

"Well, you see, it'd be really great if you could bring me to the third island in the bay, you know, the one with all of the flowers on it," Ash explained, feeling increasingly embarrassed by the moment as he realized just how ridiculous he probably sounded. After all, Brock and the others were right; he really didn't know if this island and this Pokemon really existed or not. What if they weren't real after all? Ash had just about resigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to receive another refusal when the sailor made a rather shocking offer.

"Sure, young man. Are you sure you want to go there, though? I've heard awful stories about that place."

"See, Ash? I knew this was a bad idea," Misty stated fretfully.

Ignoring Misty for the moment, Ash gratefully accepted the sailor's offer.

"Yes, we'd definitely like to go. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika..." Pikachu still seemed less than enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"Hehe, that means 'yes,'" Ash stated bashfully.

"Alright then!" the sailor began. "Hop on board and away we go!"

* * *

Ash spotted the island well before they reached it. A cornucopia of flowers of all different colors flooded his vision. He could see Misty, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the whole boat ride, smiling next to him. The sight was truly breathtaking.

"Here we are," the old sailor announced.

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu hopped off the boat and thanked the sailor, who agreed to wait for them while they explored the island.

Ash noticed that Misty seemed to be growing happier by the minute, her fears long forgotten. He could see why, too; it was impossible to be miserable in such a lovely place. Smiling, Ash plopped down on a bed of flowers, and Misty lay down beside him.

"This is the most beautiful place I've ever been, Ash," Misty gushed.

"Isn't it great, Misty?" Ash agreed.

"It sure is. Thank you for taking me here, Ash, and I'm sorry that I didn't want to come before."

Then, much to Ash's surprise, Misty reached over and grabbed Ash's hand, squeezing it tightly. Ash felt as though he might explode. He'd never felt so good in all of his life. Closing his eyes contently, Ash wished that the moment would never end.

For a long time it didn't end. Both Ash and Misty continued to hold hands and lay in the flowers, neither saying a word. Suddenly, Pikachu let out a low growl.

Opening his eyes, Ash noticed that the sky was just a little bit darker and the flowers just a little bit less visible. It was then that he felt it, a chilly breeze that seemed to cool him from the inside out. He stood up slowly and noticed that Misty had done the same.

"Ash, what's going on?" Misty questioned, panic evident in her voice.

"I...I don't know, Misty," Ash admitted.

It was then that he remembered—this was exactly how things had happened the night before. Ash realized that the strange Pokemon would probably appear soon, and, sure enough, a pair of icy blue eyes soon temporarily blinded him.

"Ash!" Misty shrieked, grabbing onto the young Pokemon trainer.

"It's OK, Misty. This just means that the Pokemon's coming!"

Then it appeared, a black body with no legs, a red collar, and a head of wild flaming white hair to match the ice blue eyes.

Ash could hear Misty scream and even felt himself growing increasingly scared. Still, he swallowed his fear, determined to meet this new Pokemon.

"Alright! Now I'm going to try to catch it! Pikachu, go!"

Pikachu appeared extremely frightened, but obeyed its master, taking a battle stance.

"Pikachu, Thunder attack now!" Ash figured he wasn't going to waste any time and ordered Pikachu to use its most powerful attack first. There was no way he was letting this Pokemon run away.

Pikachu executed the attack well, but it seemed to have no effect on the Pokemon. It simply stood its ground as if it hadn't taken any damage at all. Suddenly, it emitted a round, dark wave from its body, one that immediately hit Pikachu, knocking the electric rodent out cold.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried, scooping his beloved Pokemon into his arms.

"Ash, let me help!" Misty exclaimed, sensing the dire nature of the situation. "Go, Gyarados!"

The proud water dragon appeared, ready to aid its master.

"Gyarados, use Waterfall!" Misty ordered.

Gyarados created a large deluge that hit the Pokemon square on, but, again, it appeared as though the Pokemon hadn't been hit at all.

Then the Pokemon surrounded Gyarados with a cloak of darkness, one that caused the Pokemon to immediately faint.

"Gyarados, return!" Misty commanded, recalling the Pokemon to its pokeball. "Ash, it's too strong. We need to get out of here!"

Ash took one last look at the Pokemon. He wanted to catch it more than anything, but he realized that Misty was right. They were in danger.

Ash, still holding the unconscious Pikachu, grabbed onto Misty and began to pull her away from the Pokemon until she realized what he was doing and began to run away from it on her own. The two friends were almost at the end of the island when Ash tripped and fell.

"Misty, get back to the boat! I'll be OK! Just get back to the boat!" Ash's fear was overwhelming at that point, but there was no way he was going to let Misty get hurt. He would never forgive himself if something were to happen to her.

"Ash no! I'm not leaving without you!"

Before Ash could react to Misty's statement, the Pokemon had reached them. It prepared itself for its most powerful attack, which it then directed towards Ash.

"No! Ash!" Before Ash could even blink an eye, Misty was in front of him, taking on the brunt of the Pokemon's attack.

Author's Note: Oh no! A cliffhanger! Haha, I know how much everyone loves those. Don't worry too much, though, because the next chapter should be out fairly soon. After all, I wrote this one in less than a week! (Actually, I wrote it in two days; it's just that I didn't do any writing the first few days after I posted the first chapter.)

Yes, I know the whole "Misty-jumps-in-front-of-Ash-and-takes-on-the-attack" thing has probably been done a million times, but hopefully this story is creative enough that you don't care...maybe. :p

In case you couldn't figure it out, the first attack Darkrai (yes, the Pokemon is Darkrai—if you couldn't figure that out then you obviously don't know Pokemon very well) is Dark Pulse and the second one is Night Shade.

FutureAJ, I'm still reading your fic. I'm almost half-way through, so I should probably be able to comment on it in a few days. I would be further along but I had a really busy weekend and also wanted to take some time to work on my own story. Oh, and you wanted me to describe Misty's clothing, so I did. Yeah, I just had her wear what she wore during AG. I'm not that creative when it comes to clothing.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Don't forget to review. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Something More

Something More

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do, however, own this story.

Ash could hardly believe it. What had just happened? The last thing he could remember was bracing himself for the strange Pokemon's attack, expecting to feel a world of pain, but, instead, he felt none. Why was that? Opening his eyes, which he had tightly shut in order to prepare for the impact of the attack, Ash noticed that someone was on top of him. Grunting, he attempted to lift what he realized was an unconscious body, straining against the dead weight, when he realized who was on top of him and what had happened.

"Oh, no!" Ash cried. "Misty! Misty, wake up!"

Still, the young woman did not stir; her eyes remained closed.

What was he going to do? As Ash thought, his mind moving at the speed of light, he saw the ice blue eyes again and realized that they were quickly approaching him, getting ready to attack once again. Thinking fast, Ash suddenly realized what to do.

"Staraptor, I choose you!"

Ash's recently evolved bird Pokemon appeared, ready to serve its master in any way possible.

Moving as quickly as possible, Ash, who still had his unconscious friend and Pikachu in his arms, used all of his strength to hoist himself up onto the hawk Pokemon. Staraptor then prepared for takeoff.

The strange Pokemon unleashed its attack, but Staraptor was just too quick. It successfully avoided the attack, and before long (although it seemed like a lifetime to Ash), Ash, Misty, and Pikachu were safe on the boat.

"Sir," Ash began, addressing the sailor, "you've got to bring us back to Canalave City as quickly as you can! Please hurry, sir! My friend's been hurt!"

Sensing the urgency of the situation, the sailor responded by starting the engine of his boat.

"Hang on, Misty," Ash stated softly while cradling his friend's limp body. "Just hang on."

* * *

Ash anxiously drummed his fingers against his legs, trying his best to dispel all of the nervous energy bundled up inside of him. He couldn't help but fidget, really; how could he not when he felt like he was about to explode?

"Ash, just try to calm down, OK? I'm sure everything will be fine," Brock attempted to reassure his scared friend. Noticing that his efforts were leading him nowhere, the Pokemon breeder then reached over and put his hand on Ash's shaky shoulder.

"You don't know that, Brock! You didn't see this Pokemon!" Ash yelled, surprising even himself by his anger. Brock, however, remained calm.

"Misty's a fighter; you know that, Ash," Brock offered.

"I...I know. I'm sorry, Brock. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just really worried about Misty," Ash explained, his voice breaking a little with the last part. Catching on to this, Brock, always the older brother figure, pulled Ash into a hug, which the young Pokemon trainer gratefully returned.

Pikachu and Gyarados were resting comfortably at the Canalave City Pokemon Center, where Nurse Joy had assured Ash, Brock, and Dawn that the two Pokemon would be fine. Misty had been taken to the Canalave City Hospital's emergency department, where the three friends were still waiting to hear news of her prognosis.

"It's just that...it's just that it's all my fault," Ash wept, pulling away from Brock's embrace.

"Ash, you can't blame yourself. You didn't know this would happen," Dawn consoled gently.

"I should have thought to use Staraptor to get us out of there to begin with. Then she never would have been hurt," Ash argued.

"Ash, you couldn't have possibly been thinking straight. No one could in a situation like that," Dawn reasoned.

"I know, but I should have listened to you all when you said it was a bad idea. What was I thinking?"

"Well, I guess you really weren't thinking, Ash," Brock began, "because you were so excited about the, err, trip you went on and the strange Pokemon. Tell me again, Ash: what exactly did it look like?"

After hearing Ash's story, an amazed Brock and Dawn had to accept that perhaps they had been wrong after all and that perhaps Ash hadn't been dreaming if he and Misty had been able to go to the very place Ash had described to them that morning. It still didn't make any sense, and Brock was still trying to put the pieces of the story together. Besides, asking Ash about the Pokemon could possibly get his mind off of Misty.

"Well, it had these ice blue eyes and a black body that seemed to levitate above the ground. A red collar ringed its neck and white hair seemed to flow off the top of its head. When it arrived everything went dark and I felt cold inside, almost like I'd never be happy again," Ash explained.

"Hmm, I've really never heard of a Pokemon like that," Brock admitted.

"There isn't any information on that Pokemon in my Pokedex, either," Dawn added.

Ash felt defeated. He knew what he had seen; yet there seemed to be no information on it anywhere. He really had seen it, right? Of course he had! After all, Misty was here in the hospital, hurt by the Pokemon's attack. If that wasn't proof, Ash didn't know what was!

Misty...once again he was thinking of her. Why did she jump in front of him, taking on the attack that was meant for him? Why would Misty risk her own life for him? Would he do the same for her? Of course he would, he reasoned; after all, hadn't he urged her to return to the boat and to leave him after he had tripped? Still, what Misty had done seemed to go beyond friendship. What was beyond friendship, though?

It was all his fault. If Ash hadn't have insisted on going to this strange island in the first place Misty would never have been hurt. How could he ever forgive himself if she wasn't OK? Oh, if she wasn't OK...

"Excuse me."

Looking up, Ash noticed that an older man with thinning hair was addressing himself, Brock, and Dawn. The man wore a white lab coat, and one would be right in assuming that he was a doctor.

"Are you Misty's friends?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, that's us," Brock replied. "How is she?"

"Well, I'm afraid the news isn't very good," the doctor stated gravely.

Ash's heart sank. It was as if his worst nightmare was coming true...

"What exactly is wrong with her, sir?" Brock questioned fearfully.

"Well, that's the problem, young man. We don't really know what's wrong with her. We've never seen anything like this. She seems to have entered a state of unconsciousness, but she also appears to suffer from some kind of fits. Her vital signs are quite erratic. Despite being unconscious, she moves occasionally, almost as if she's experiencing some unspeakable terror. I don't quite know how to say this, but it appears as though your friend has entered a nightmare, one which we can't wake her from," the doctor finished.

It all sounded dreadful to Ash. What could be worse than being trapped in a nightmare one could not be woken up from? Not only was this happening, but it was also happening to one of his dearest friends. A question entered Ash's head, and, although he was afraid of what the answer to it would be, he decided to ask the doctor anyway.

"Sir, is...is there anything you can do for her?" Ash questioned, fear evident in his voice.

"Well, right now we're giving her IV fluids and oxygen and monitoring her vital signs, but, because we don't know what's wrong, I'm afraid there isn't anything else we can do," the doctor stated solemnly.

Ash could hardly believe his ears. Surely there must have been something they could do! Still, the doctor had made it quite clear that there wasn't. Staring at the stark white walls of the hospital, Ash could feel himself choking up again.

"Can...Can I see her?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course. You may only go one at a time, though," the doctor explained.

Ash didn't even need to say anything, for when he glanced at Brock and Dawn they nodded in understanding, having already realized and decided that it would be best for Ash to see Misty first.

After walking for what seemed like forever, the doctor had finally led Ash to Misty's room on the hospital's eighth floor. Peering in, Ash could see his friend lying stoically under the white sheets of the hospital bed. At that moment he wanted to do nothing more than run away so that he wouldn't have to see Misty in such a state, but, swallowing his fear, Ash entered the room.

"Hi, Misty," he began tentatively, unsure of what to say to the unconscious girl. Misty, of course, made no reply...not that Ash was exactly expecting her to.

He slowly made his way over to her bed, and, sitting down next to her, gently grasped her hand (which, Ash noticed to his horror, had a needle in it). How could he have let this happen to her? Sure, Misty had always teased him and even made fun of him at times, but, Ash realized, all in all she had always been a good friend to him. When had she ever let something like this happen to him? On the contrary, she had risked her own life to prevent something like this from happening to him, hadn't she?

"Misty, I'm so, so sorry. I...I don't know what to say," Ash began, a small tear rolling down his cheek. "I never wanted this to happen to you. I hope you know that."

Still, Misty made no reply, remaining still, the only movement coming from her being the steady rise and fall of her chest underneath the blue hospital gown.

As Ash sat with Misty he thought of all of the good times he had had with her, and realized that her kindness had always prevailed over her teasing and occasional nastiness. This didn't seem fair at all. Why Misty? Why was Misty laying her in this hospital bed when there were so many more deserving people out there? Misty hadn't done anything wrong. No, only he had done something wrong...

Suddenly, Misty made a sudden jerking motion. Ash thought that perhaps he had been seeing things, but out of the corner of his eye he saw it again...and then again. Soon Misty was thrashing about, her face contorted with agony.

"Misty! Misty, what's wrong?!" Ash cried, completely at a loss for what to do and unaware of what was going on. It almost looked like Misty was experiencing some kind of nightmare...

Then Ash remembered what the doctor had said and realized what was happening. He still wasn't sure what to do (after all, the doctor had said that nothing could be done), but his instincts told him that he should try to comfort her anyway.

"Shh, Mist, it's OK," Ash soothed, reaching over to lightly touch Misty's face and to brush her bangs away from her eyes (even thought they remained closed). "I'm right here, Misty. Everything's going to be OK," Ash promised.

Then, much to Ash's surprise, Misty calmed down. Maybe what he was doing was working after all!

Ash remained with Misty like that for hours, soothing her when her fits acted up. Soon, though, a nurse walked into the room and told Ash that visiting hours were over.

"What!? You can't really expect me to leave her here all alone!" Ash cried, aghast that the nurse could suggest such a thing.

"I'm sorry, young man, but rules are rules. We have to follow the hospital's policies," the nurse explained.

"But..."

"Come on, Ash. Let's get back to the Pokemon Center."

This time it was Brock who had addressed Ash, for he and Dawn had appeared from behind the nurse.

"But I was making her feel better!" Ash argued.

"It's OK, Ash. She'll be in good hands here," Brock reassured his friend. Ash had little choice but to give in.

* * *

Back at the Canalave City Pokemon Center, where the gang had decided to spend the remainder of their trip in Canalave City in order to be close to Pikachu and Gyarados and because of the bad events that had occurred as a result of staying in the inn, Ash, Brock, and Dawn were discussing what had happened that day.

"It really is very strange that the doctors at the hospital have never seen anything like this," Dawn commented.

"Well, it's not completely surprising," Brock began, "because the Pokedex had no information on the strange Pokemon Ash and Misty saw, so probably not very many people have seen it or the effects of its attacks before."

Just then a strange looking man with purple hair and a purple beard approached the group.

"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or anything, but I couldn't help but overhear about your friend," the man explained.

Ash, who had silently brooded throughout the conversation because he was upset about having to leave Misty, decided that he didn't like this guy interrupting what he viewed as a private conversation.

"Well, you really shouldn't listen in on conversations that don't concern you," Ash stated angrily.

"I'm sorry, young man, but I think I might have a way to help your friend," the man stated.

"Yeah, right. If the doctors can't help her how can you expect us to believe—"

"Hold on, Ash. I'd like to hear what this man has to say," Brock, who was thinking more rationally than Ash at the moment, interrupted.

"Well, it's just that it sounds as though your friend has been hit by Darkrai's Nightmare attack," the man said simply and matter-of-factly.

"Darkrai's Nightmare attack?" the three friends questioned in unison.

"Well, it's not something I've ever seen myself, but I've heard of it," the man replied.

"What's a Darkrai?" Ash asked.

"I think you'll be able to find all of the information you need in the old Canalave City Library."

With that, the strange man walked out of the Pokemon Center, leaving three very confused kids behind him.

* * *

"Is there any information in that book, Dawn?" Ash asked hopefully.

"No, there's not. Sorry, Ash."

Ash, Brock, and Dawn had looked through the books of the old Canalave City Library for quite some time now and were quickly running out of hope. They had yet to find anything on Darkrai and the library was going to close soon.

"Well, there's one section of the library we haven't tried," Brock reminded his two companions. "There's still the section of the oldest books upstairs."

"Let's go!" Ash cried.

Although he had reacted angrily to the man who had tried to help him before, Ash had decided that trying anything was better than sitting around the Pokemon Center sulking. Because of this, he had enthusiastically searched through the library's many shelves.

Still, after searching through the oldest section of the library, the group hadn't come across any information on Darkrai. Finally, Ash spotted something.

"Guys, listen to this!" he exclaimed. "On the third island in the bay lies Darkrai, who lures unsuspecting people to its domain through dreams. Once there, it attacks them with its Nightmare attack. Many a person has disappeared forever after going to Darkrai's island to search for it. After being hit by Darkrai's Nightmare attack, there is only one thing that can be done. One must go to Full Moon Island at midnight and obtain Cresselia's Lunar Wing."

"I guess you were just dreaming last night after all," Dawn smiled mischievously at Ash, who could only sweat drop.

"I've never heard of Cresselia before," Brock admitted.

"There isn't any information on it in my Pokedex," Dawn joined in.

"Does it really matter? None of us knew anything about Darkrai, either, and apparently it exists because it must be the Pokemon Misty and I saw. This may be Misty's only hope!" Ash reminded his friends.

"I believe you, Ash," Dawn stated firmly, "and I want to come with you to Full Moon Island."

"I'll come, too," Brock added.

"No, Brock. I want you to stay here in case Misty wakes up," Ash stated with resolve.

"But Ash—"

"Ash is right, Brock. Someone should stay here," Dawn said.

Brock gave in and agreed with his two friends, who set off to find a sailor who would take them to Full Moon Island. It was rapidly approaching midnight.

* * *

Ash found himself increasingly frustrated, for, yet again, he could not find a sailor who would help him out, although it was for a different reason than earlier; it was late and all of the sailors were in bed.

"What are we going to do, Dawn?"

"I don't know, Ash," Dawn admitted.

"This may be Misty's only chance! There must be someone who can help us!"

Suddenly Ash remembered the eccentric old sailor who had helped him out earlier that day. Hey, it was worth a shot!

Sure enough, after traveling to the part of Canalave where the old sailor was before, Ash found him awake and alert.

"Ay, what is it, young man? Don't tell me you want to go to that island again, because I aint taking you!"

"Sir, my friend needs help! You have to take us to Full Moon Island, and fast!" Ash ordered.

"Full Moon Island? What do you want to go there for? There's nothing there worth seeing," the old sailor replied.

"Please, sir, it may be our friend's only hope," Dawn begged.

The old man could hardly resist Dawn's face, and, giving in, agreed to bring the two kids to Full Moon Island.

Ash and Dawn arrived at Full Moon Island shortly before midnight. Dawn had taken her four Pokemon with her and Ash had taken all of his Pokemon except Pikachu, who was still recuperating from Darkrai's attack back at the Pokemon Center. Crouching in some bushes, the pair waited until midnight.

When Dawn's Poketch said it was midnight a most wondrous thing occurred. A large Pokemon appeared, and it was one of the most beautiful either Ash or Dawn had seen. It had a smooth purple body and pink wings of sorts, and a yellow crescent moon ringed its pointed face. Ash could only stare in awe.

"Ash, that must be Cresselia!" Dawn stated, waking Ash from his reverie.

"You're right! What do you think I should do?"

"Try to talk to it, I guess."

Ash slowly and quietly slipped out of the bushes and began approaching the Pokemon. When the Pokemon noticed his presence, it began to move as if it were going to run away.

"Wait! Please, I'm not going to hurt you," Ash promised. "My friend is very sick and I need your help."

The Pokemon slowly turned to face him. Noticing this, Ash felt a sense of hope that perhaps that Pokemon could hear and understand him and that it would not run away.

_Please Explain._

Ash had heard it clear as day, an elegant female voice, but there was no one around except for him and Dawn. Where could the voice have come from? Suddenly he remembered the Pokemon.

"You...you can talk?" Ash questioned the creature.

_I can talk to those who are willing to listen._

There was no mistaking it this time; the voice had come from the Pokemon. Still, the Pokemon had not moved its mouth. It was almost as if it were speaking to Ash telepathically or something.

"Are you Cresselia?" Ash began hopefully.

"Ash, who are you talking to?" Dawn questioned from inside the bushes.

Could it be that Dawn couldn't hear the Pokemon, that only he, Ash, could? Undeterred, Ash returned his gaze to the Pokemon.

_I am._

"Please, Cresselia, I need your help! My friend has been hit by Darkrai's Nightmare attack!"

_I see._

"I need the Lunar Wing!" Ash begged.

_How did you find out about me and the Lunar Wing?_

"Some guy told me about Darkrai, and when I researched it in the library I came across information about you and the Lunar Wing. Please, Cresselia, I need your help."

_As I can sense that you share a strong bond with this friend of yours and that you care about her deeply, I will give you one of my feathers, otherwise known as the Lunar Wing. I must warn you of something, however; the Lunar Wing alone can only do so much. It will wake your friend from her nightmarish state, but it cannot do more than that._

"What do you mean? What else is there for it to do? Isn't waking Misty from her unconscious state enough?" Ash didn't understand what was going on. Wouldn't Misty be fine once she woke up?

_I am afraid there is more to it than that. Nightmare is one of the most vicious attacks a Pokemon can possess. It affects a person in awful ways even after the person has physically recovered from it. The Lunar Wing will wake your friend up, but it will take something more than that to truly free her from her demons._

"Well, what is it? I'll do anything! Just tell me what it is!" Ash pleaded.

_I cannot tell you what it is. If you truly care for your friend you will figure it out on your own._

Then Cresselia's form began to fade from view.

"Wait! I need to know what it is that I have to do!"

_Farewell._

With that, Cresselia was gone.

Author's Note: In case you couldn't figure it out, Cresselia speaks to Ash telepathically, kind of like how Shaymin speaks in the preview for movie eleven. (Of course, if you haven't seen that preview, then you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

I know that in the Pokemon games a Pokemon has to be asleep in order to be attacked by Nightmare and that Misty wasn't asleep when she was attacked in this story, so I realize that I'm bending the rules a little bit here.

I know that I torture Misty a lot in my fics, but I swear she really is my favorite character. Also, I've always wanted to write a shippy scene where Misty is sick and Ash feels all sad and tries to make her feel better. Don't worry too much, because there will be a happy ending.

I realize that Ash still has a Staravia right now, but for the sake of this fic I evolved it into a Staraptor because Staravia looks too small to be able to carry people.

FutureAJ, I'm still reading your fic. I should be done soon.

Thanks to those of you who have reviewed, and to those who haven't, well, what are you waiting for? ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Something More

Something More

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do, however, own this story.

"Cresselia! Cresselia, come back!" Ash cried out in desperation, for the magnificent purple Pokemon had disappeared right before his eyes. What was he going to do now? Without the Lunar Wing Ash wouldn't be able to do anything to help Misty. What would he do if she wasn't OK? How would he ever forgive himself?

"Ash, look!"

The young Pokemon trainer turned towards Dawn, who had addressed him. He noticed that she was pointing towards the ground in the clearing in the woods where Cresselia had been before. There on the ground lay a glowing purple feather.

"Dawn, that must be the Lunar Wing! Cresselia left it for us after all!" Ash stated happily.

Ash approached the glittering object slowly and cautiously, afraid that if he moved too quickly it would disappear. Carefully, he picked up the Lunar Wing, fingering it gently and marveling at its presence. Perhaps Misty could be saved after all...

* * *

"Brock, I've got it!"

Ash dashed into Misty's hospital room, where Brock was sitting with the unconscious young girl, Dawn not too far behind him. It was now morning, and visitors were allowed in the hospital again.

"Hmm? What do you have, Ash?" Brock questioned. Truth be told, he had fallen asleep while sitting with Misty and had forgotten all about the search for the Lunar Wing.

"The Lunar Wing, of course!" Ash replied.

"Oh, you found it? That's great, Ash," Brock responded, his memory having been jogged by Ash's statement.

"I've got it right here," Ash stated with excitement, presenting the Lunar Wing for Brock to see.

"How did you find it?" Brock asked out of curiosity. "Did Cresselia appear?"

"Yes," Dawn answered. "You should have seen her, Brock; she was so beautiful! She spoke to Ash, too!" Dawn relayed, for Ash had explained to her how he could hear Cresselia speaking to him even though she never moved her mouth.

"Really, Ash? What did she say?" Brock wondered.

"Oh, um, you know, just that the Lunar Wing would heal Misty." For some reason Ash found himself unable to tell his friends all of what Cresselia had said. He didn't want his friends to know about the "something more" part. He was determined to figure that out on his own. Besides, he thought, was Cresselia even right when she said that? Surely the Lunar Wing would make Misty OK again, right?

"This is such great news, Ash!" Brock exclaimed happily. "Err, what do we with it?"

"W-w-what do you mean?" Ash hadn't thought of this question before.

"Well, what I mean is, what do we do with it? Do we just place it on top of Misty or something?"

Ash had not expected to come across this problem. Brock was right, though; what did they do with the Lunar Wing? This was definitely something he should have thought to ask Cresselia about before she disappeared.

"That's a good question, Brock," Dawn piped up. "What did Cresselia say about this, Ash?"

That was the problem, though, wasn't it? Cresselia hadn't said what to do with the Lunar Wing, and Ash had not been smart enough to ask her about it. There was no way he was letting his friends know that, though.

"Um, yeah, hehe, I guess we do just place it on Misty," Ash replied shakily.

"You guess?" Dawn and Brock questioned in unison.

"Um, no, I mean, yes, that's what we do with it." Ash tried to muster a little more confidence this time, although Brock and Dawn still did not look convinced.

Sweat dropping, Ash gingerly placed the Lunar Wing on top of Misty.

"I guess we just have to wait now, guys," the aspiring Pokemon Master told his friends.

Just then, a nurse barged into the room.

"What are all you kids doing in here? Didn't we tell you that only one of you could be in here at a time?"

Brock and Dawn left the room, leaving Ash alone with the still unconscious Misty.

* * *

Ash felt like he had been waiting for hours, but Misty still did not stir. She had stopped having her fits, though, so he supposed that was a good thing. Still, why wasn't the Lunar Wing working? Why wouldn't Misty wake up?

"Misty, please wake up," Ash begged, hoping that his words would reach the unconscious girl.

He looked down at her face, no longer full of torment but still pale and sickly looking. Somehow, though, she looked almost calm and peaceful. Perhaps the Lunar Wing was starting to work.

Ash's eyes then traveled to Misty's red hair, which had been let down and framed her face. It really wasn't ugly after all, was it? It really did look rather lovely when it was down. Sure, Misty usually just threw it back in a sloppy side ponytail, but somehow that suited her, a carefree style for a carefree girl. Would Ash ever get to see that signature side ponytail again?

Ash realized that he had been staring at Misty for a long time. Blushing slightly, he suddenly looked away from his friend. Why was he looking at her like that and for so long? What was wrong with him? Perhaps more importantly, why was he feeling that strange feeling again, the one he felt when he was around Misty or when he thought of her? It was a strange feeling indeed, but it felt good at the same time. He wanted it to last forever.

Would it last forever, though? Would he ever feel it again, even? Certainly he wouldn't if Misty never woke up. What would Ash do then? The thought was almost unbearable. How would Ash ever live without Misty?

"Misty, you have to wake up," Ash softly pleaded. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

Still nothing. Ash then turned away from his friend to look out the window in her hospital room. Outside he could see a tree that was just beginning to flower with cherry blossoms. Two Starly were perched on it happily, talking to each other in Pokemon speech and looking quite content. How could the world outside look so beautiful when Ash was feeling so awful? How could Pokemon be happily conversing with one another when he couldn't talk with the one person he wanted to talk with more than anything at the moment? How could things be so unfair?

"Ash?"

The weak voice reached Ash, and he turned away from the window to see where it had come from, hoping against hope. Sure enough, though, when he looked towards Misty he found her wide awake and staring at him with a look of confusion and panic on her face.

"Misty! You're awake!" Ash stated happily.

"Ash, what's going on? Where am I? What happened?" Misty questioned her Pokemon trainer friend, fear evident in her voice.

"It's OK, Misty," Ash tried to comfort his friend. "You're in the hospital. You were hit by Darkrai's Nightmare attack."

"Darkrai's Nightmare attack?" Misty murmured.

"I'll explain everything later," Ash offered. "I'm just glad you're OK."

Then, much to Misty's surprise, Ash reached over and grabbed Misty's hand and held it tightly.

* * *

The doctors released Misty from the hospital, hailing her quick recovery (and recovery at all) a miracle. Ash, Brock, and Dawn had decided not to complicate matters, so they didn't explain about the Lunar Wing.

Back at the Pokemon Center, everyone was in a great mood and talking happily...everyone, that is, except for Misty.

"Misty, what's wrong?" Brock questioned, having caught on to Misty's quiet state.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Misty stated softly.

"Are you sure, Misty? You've been awfully quiet. Do you still feel weak? Maybe we should bring you back to the hospital." Ash, too, had noticed how quiet Misty had been and felt worried for his friend.

"No, I'm fine. So, Ash, how are you going to beat the Canalave City gym leader tomorrow?" Misty asked, successfully changing the subject.

"Oh, yeah! I'm going to use Buizel, Turtwig, and Chimchar, and I'm going to win," Ash stated confidently, forgetting all about his worry for his friend.

* * *

The next day the four friends approached the Canalave City gym, an imposing structure made entirely of steel. Glancing up at it Brock, Dawn, and Misty felt slightly nervous. Ash, however, only felt excited.

"Come on, guys! Let's head in!" he ordered.

After pushing the door to the gym open, Ash and Pikachu (who had recovered from Darkrai's attack) ran into the large arena where Pokemon battles were held, followed by Misty, Brock, and Dawn.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Ash called out.

A man with purple hair and a purple beard made his way out of the shadows.

"It's you!" Ash stated in shock, recognizing this man as the one they had encountered in the Pokemon Center. "You saved my friend's life!"

"It was my pleasure," the man replied simply.

"Thank you, sir," Misty responded meekly from behind Ash.

"You're welcome."

"Mister, do you happen to know where the leader of this gym is? I'd like to challenge him," Ash explained.

"Look no further, my young friend. My name's Byron, and I'm the leader of this gym."

"You? You're the gym leader?" Ash was shocked.

"That's right. It will be a three on three battle. So, do you want to battle or not?" Byron challenged.

"You bet!"

Ash and Byron stood at opposite ends of the gym, ready for battle. The referee of the match announced that it was time to begin.

"OK, I choose Bronzor!" Byron cried.

A round, blue, steel and psychic type Pokemon appeared, its yellow eyes glowing menacingly. Though the Pokemon was quite small, it still looked fierce. Misty withdrew further back into her seat as it appeared, almost as if she were frightened of it.

"Alright, in that care I choose Chimchar!" Ash called out the fire monkey Pokemon, which appeared in a burst of light. Because it was so determined to do its best and please its new master, the flame at the end of its tail seemed to burn more brightly than usual.

Ash wasted no time in starting.

"Chimchar, use Flame Wheel," he ordered.

Just as the attack was about to hit, Byron gave his command.

"Bronzor, use Iron Defense!"

The circular Pokemon suddenly hardened considerably, and simply shrugged off Chimchar's Flame Wheel attack.

Shocked and surprised, Ash was unsure of what to do. Byron, however, began his assault

"Bronzor, use Extrasensory!"

Bronzor unleashed the psychic attack, hitting Chimchar dead on. The little monkey Pokemon struggled, but was able to withstand the attack.

"How could Chimchar overcome that attack, Brock?" Dawn asked. "Isn't it part fighting?"

"Actually, Dawn, Chimchar is not part fighting; it only gains the fighting type when it evolves. Because of that Byron doesn't have a type advantage here. Still, Ash had better think of something to do, and fast. Obviously Flame Wheel won't work again because Bronzor has used Iron Defense."

Brock and Dawn continued chatting about the match. Misty, however, sat silently.

Suddenly Ash seemed to have thought of an idea.

"Chimchar, can you keep going, buddy?"

"Char!" Chimchar nodded an affirmative.

"OK! Chimchar, use Fire Spin!" Ash ordered.

A brutal blast of fire engulfed Bronzor, trapping it. Soon the fire had done its damage, and Bronzor was no longer able to battle.

"Ash came up with the right strategy at the right time," Brock remarked. "Because Fire Spin is not a physical attack, it is not affected by Iron Defense."

"Wow, Ash sure can be smart," Dawn commented. "Don't you think so, Misty?" the Pokemon Coordinator added.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Misty replied weakly.

"Misty, are you OK?" Brock questioned. "You seem like you're in another world."

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," Misty answered.

Though Brock was unconvinced by Misty's answer, his attention returned to the battle at hand.

"Not bad, Ash," Byron commented. "Don't think you're going to beat me, though."

"We'll see about that," Ash stated smugly.

"OK, Steelix, come out!"

Byron released the giant rock and steel snake, which uttered a mighty roar.

"Steelix, use Earthquake!" Byron commanded.

The Earthquake hit Chimchar, who immediately fainted.

"You did great, Chimchar. Now you can take a nice, long rest." Ash smiled at the Pokeball in his hand as he recalled Chimchar. In the background Misty smiled, too, though rather weakly and temporarily.

"OK, Byron, don't think I'm going to give up that easily! I choose Turtwig!"

Ash released his newest grass Pokemon, who smiled happily and wiggled the leaf on top of its head.

"Are you ready, Turtwig?"

"Turtwig!"

"OK! Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!" Ash ordered.

A barrage of leaves hit Steelix hard. Still, the rock and steel snake seemed to shrug off the attack.

"Is that the best you can do, Ash?" Byron taunted.

"No way!" Ash called out. Still, his face betrayed him. Ash had been relying on Turtwig's Razor Leaf attack to take care of Steelix, and his friends knew it. Razor Leaf had barely done any damage, though; why was that? As much as Ash tried to think of an answer, he could not come up with one.

There was no way that Ash was losing this battle, though, and not just because he wanted and needed his sixth gym badge. It had been a long time since Ash had battled in front of Misty, and he was determined to impress her. That familiar strange feeling surfaced when he thought of winning in front of Misty, and there was no way he was going to let it get away by losing.

"Now, Steelix, use Dragonbreath!" Byron commanded.

Even Misty, Brock, and Dawn, who were sitting in the stands, could feel the heat emanating from Steelix's mouth as it released its powerful Dragonbreath attack. The attack hit Turtwig, and the little grass Pokemon struggled against its power.

"Turtwig, hang on!" Ash pleaded.

"What's Ash going to do now, Brock?" Dawn questioned.

"I don't know. Obviously Razor Leaf isn't going to work against Steelix," Brock replied. "Still, Ash has to think of something. Turtwig won't be able to withstand that Dragonbreath attack for much longer."

Steelix, who could no longer produce the powerful heat wave of breath, had to take a breather. This was Ash's chance.

Suddenly, a smile made its way across Ash's face. He knew what to do.

"Turtwig, use Energy Ball!"

"Turtwig!"

The leaf on top of Turtwig's head began to glow, and a round, compressed bundle of green energy hit Steelix, who immediately fainted.

"Ash does it again!" Brock proclaimed happily.

"I don't understand, though, Brock. Why did Energy Ball work when Razor Leaf didn't?" Dawn wondered.

"Steelix has amazing defense," Brock explained. "Since Razor Leaf is a physical attack, it does very little damage to Steelix. Energy Ball, however, is a special attack, and Steelix's special defense isn't nearly as good as its defense, so Energy Ball does much more damage."

"Wow. Ash figured it out right in the nick of time. He sure is good at this, isn't he, Misty?" Dawn looked over at Misty, but noticed that the gym leader seemed to be in her own world yet again.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he is," Misty replied, finally regaining her grasp on reality.

"Misty, are you sure everything's alright?" Brock was becoming quite worried about his friend.

"I'm fine, Brock." Misty smiled at the Pokemon Breeder, but he was unconvinced. Still, he returned his attention to the battle at hand.

"I underestimated you, Ash," Byron admitted. "Still, there's no way, you're going to win against this Pokemon. Go, Bastiodon!"

A huge brown and black monster emerged from Byron's Pokeball. A large black shield protected its face.

"Bastiodon, use Metal Sound!"

Bastiodon emitted a horrible screech. Ash and his friends flinched and covered their ears so they could avoid the sound. Turtwig, however, was not so lucky; it had been affected by Metal Sound.

While Ash was still trying to regain his bearings after having experienced the horrible noise that was Metal Sound, Byron was ready for his next move.

"Bastiodon, use Ancient Power!"

Because Turtwig's special defense had been greatly lowered by Metal Sound, the grass Pokemon immediately fainted.

"Good job, Turtwig! Now, return!"

"What are you going to do now, Ash?" Byron teased.

"I'm just getting started, Byron! Buizel, I choose you!"

Buizel, who once belonged to Dawn, appeared from inside its Pokeball. It crossed its arms arrogantly.

"Buizel, are you ready to go?"

"Bui!"

"OK, then! Use your Aqua Jet attack!" Ash ordered.

Buizel surrounded itself with a veil of water and shot itself towards Bastiodon. The attack hit, but, once again, Byron's Pokemon had taken little damage from it.

It was the same situation all over again, Ash realized. He would have to use a strategy similar to the one he used with Steelix.

"Buizel, use Water Pulse!"

Cupping its hands together, Buizel produced a ball of blue water and launched it towards Bastiodon. Byron had a plan, however.

"Bastiodon, use Protect!"

The Water Pulse attack bounced off of the wall of light Bastiodon had made, hitting Buizel instead.

"Buizel, are you OK?" Ash asked his Pokemon.

Instead of answering, Buizel shook its head violently, as if trying to regain its composure. When Brock caught a glimpse of the Pokemon's eyes, he was terrified.

"It's been confused!" Brock exclaimed.

"What? How is that possible?" Dawn questioned.

"Water Pulse has the possibility of confusing its target. When it hit Buizel it must have confused it!"

"Oh no!" Dawn uttered in horror.

Ash, however, didn't seem to notice the problem. He pressed on.

"Buizel, try to use Water Pulse again!" Ash ordered.

Again Buizel cupped its hands and produced the ball of water, but because it was confused it shot it straight towards Brock, Dawn, and Misty.

Brock and Dawn quickly scurried away. Misty, however, remained frozen in fear, whimpering softly.

"Misty, look out!" Brock reached the young woman just in time, pushing her out of the way and towards safety.

"Misty, are you OK?" Brock asked.

Instead of answering Misty shot upright and ran straight out of the gym.

Author's Note: I am so, so sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter. I can't believe it took me this long! The truth is, I had the first three chapters all planned out, so they were easy to write, but after that I wasn't really sure what to do. I had a general idea of where I wanted the story to go, but didn't know much beyond that. I kept waiting for a stroke of genius regarding this fic to hit me, but it never did. I figured you guys had waited long enough, though, so I went ahead and updated anyway, even though I didn't really know what I was doing.

Well, this is the result. Yes, it's bad; I'm aware of that. It's too dialogue intensive in the second half and it's not shippy enough. (Don't worry about that too much, though, because the next chapter will be very shippy.) Still, I hope you'll stick with it, because the next chapter will be better (and shouldn't take as long to write).

Anyway, I realize that Protect doesn't bounce an attack back at the attacking Pokemon, but only Mirror Coat does that and Bastiodon doesn't learn Mirror Coat, so I had to use Protect.

Thanks for sticking with me. Don't forget to review (even if it is just to tell me how awful this chapter is). ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Something More

Something More

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I do, however, own this story.

Ash could hardly believe what he had just seen. Buizel had attacked his friends. That wasn't the most surprising event, however. The young Pokemon trainer could still picture the way Misty had just stood frozen in place, a look of fear plastered on her face, long after Brock and Dawn had managed to escape from Buizel's Water Pulse attack. The sheer terror in her eyes had sent chills down Ash's spine. Sure, being attacked by a Pokemon could be scary, but Brock and Dawn hadn't reacted that way at all; they had simply jumped out of the way. What could cause Misty to behave so strangely?

"Buizel, why did you attack my friends?" Ash questioned his Pokemon in an attempt to take his mind off of Misty, even if it were only for a moment.

"Bui! Bui!" All Buizel could do was hang its head in shame.

"Ash, it wasn't Buizel's fault! It was confused!" Brock explained to the younger Pokemon trainer.

"Oh, sorry, Buizel," Ash apologized.

The aspiring Pokemon Master then turned his attention to his remaining friends, Brock and Dawn. One look at their faces was enough to tell him that they had not only witnessed the events with Misty but that they had processed what had happened as well. Neither said a word, however. Neither knew what to say.

"Guys, what's wrong with Misty? Why did she just stand there when Buizel attacked? Why did she run off like that?" Ash asked, finally breaking the silence and broaching the subject no one wanted to face.

Brock and Dawn exchanged nervous glances.

"We really don't know, Ash. We were hoping you'd have some insight into this," Dawn admitted.

"She was acting really strange throughout the whole gym battle," Brock added. "She seemed like she wasn't paying attention at all...almost as though she was in another world."

That certainly was unlike Misty, Ash thought. She had always been really interested in his gym battles when they had traveled throughout Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto, assessing his strategies and offering suggestions and cheering him on when he was losing. No, it wasn't like Misty to become distant during a gym battle at all.

"I have to go find her!" Ash exclaimed to his friends.

"But Ash, what about your gym battle? You have to finish," Dawn reminded her friend and traveling companion.

"So what? Guys, she may be in trouble! This gym battle will have to wait, and if Byron won't wait for me, then oh well. Some things are more important than gym battles!"

Ash then ran out of the gym, Pikachu scampering behind him.

"What's more important than a gym battle to Ash?" Dawn questioned Brock. "I thought training Pokemon and getting gym badges were more important than anything in the world to Ash."

"Well, I don't know for sure, Dawn, but I have a gut feeling," Brock stated sagely.

* * *

Ash ran as fast as he could as Pikachu struggled to keep up, pumping his legs harder and harder. Where could Misty be? More importantly, what was going on with her? Why would she freeze in fear and then run off like that?

Suddenly Cresselia's words echoed in Ash's head...

_Nightmare is one of the most vicious attacks a Pokemon can possess. It affects a person in awful ways even after the person has physically recovered from it. The Lunar Wing will wake your friend up, but it will take something more than that to truly free her from her demons..._

Could Misty's actions be related to Darkrai's Nightmare attack? Was she still affected by it in awful ways? With renewed resolve to find and help his friend Ash began to run even faster.

Eventually Ash reached the Canalave City Pokemon Center. Though he wasn't sure why, his gut feeling told him to go inside.

Upon entering, Ash bypassed Nurse Joy, who was busy tending to an injured Cubone, and went straight to the room he was sharing with Brock, Misty, and Dawn.

The light was off and the shades were drawn, but, because it was the middle of the day, Ash could clearly make out Misty's slim figure lying facedown on one of the Pokemon Center's rickety old cots. As he approached her he could hear the faint sound of muffled crying.

"Misty? Misty, are you alright?"

Apparently Misty had not heard Ash enter the room, for when he spoke to her she immediately sprung up from her supine position to face him.

"Ash? Ash, what are you doing here?" Misty seemed alarmed to see her friend; it was clear that she wasn't expecting anyone to run after her.

"I came to see if you were alright, Misty. Are you alright?" Ash asked dumbly, not knowing the right words to say.

"Oh. Yes, I'm fine..." Misty spoke softly, her words leaving a trail of clues as to what she was really experiencing but no straight answer.

"Oh. OK." For some reason Ash was finding this conversation exceedingly awkward and difficult. For one of the few times in his life Ash really didn't know what to say. In fact, the only other time he could remember being at a loss for words like this was when Misty got her bike back and was getting ready to leave him to return home to Cerulean City...

Thinking back to that moment, Ash remembered how painful his parting with Misty had been. He had never wanted to experience anything like that again, and luckily he never had. Still, somehow he realized he was at risk of losing her again, only this time it was to a much less tangible and more insidious force. He had to act.

"Misty, may I sit down?"

"Sure," Misty replied in an attempted cheerful voice, although her face certainly betrayed her.

Much to Misty's surprise, Ash did not choose the bed across from her but chose to sit down right beside her on the bed she was occupying.

"Misty, why did you run away from the gym battle? Why did you not move when Buizel accidentally attacked you and Brock and Dawn with Water Pulse?"

"W-w-what? I don't know, Ash..."

Misty hung her head sadly, avoiding all eye contact with Ash. Unfazed, Ash continued.

"Misty, does this have anything to do with Darkrai's Nightmare attack?"

For the first time since Ash had entered that room in the Pokemon Center, Misty really looked Ash in the eyes.

"How did you know?" Misty answered meekly.

"Um, well, it was something Cresselia said," Ash replied.

"Cresselia?" A puzzled look made its way across Misty's face.

"Yeah, Cresselia. After you were attacked by Darkrai and lay sick in the hospital Brock, Dawn, and I did some research and found out that there's a Pokemon who lives on Full Moon Island in Canalave City Bay named Cresselia who can heal people who have been hit by Nightmare. Dawn and I went to see her and she gave us the Lunar Wing, which healed you. That's how you got better," Ash explained.

"I see. What did Cresselia say?"

"Well, she said that even if a person recovers physically from Nightmare that person may not be better completely. Cresselia said it would take 'something more' than the Lunar Wing to fully heal that person, although I have to admit that I haven't really figured that part out yet."

Misty looked away from Ash again, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Misty, what's wrong?" Ash asked with concern.

Still, Misty made no reply. Instead, she just began to cry more loudly.

Ash had to think. What could he say to Misty to get her to open up? How could he get her to trust him? Suddenly an idea popped into his head.

"Misty, what was it like being attacked by Darkrai?"

Misty stopped crying abruptly, apparently shocked by Ash's question. She closed her eyes as if experiencing a very painful memory, and then slowly opened them again, faced Ash, and began.

"Well, I don't really know how to describe it, to be honest. I was running away from Darkrai with you, and then everything went dark. My whole body felt cold. I...I then began to have nightmares. It was awful, Ash; I felt like I would never be happy again. Then I woke up."

Well, it was a start, Ash figured. Still, there was much more he needed to know.

"Misty, can you tell me about the nightmares you had?"

Misty opened her mouth slowly, but made no sound. Instead, she looked straight ahead at the wall opposite from her, blank and bare except for a single picture of an exceedingly happy looking Chansey. Talk about a picture that didn't fit the mood in the room, Ash thought.

"It's OK, Misty. You can tell me. I won't judge you," Ash stated softly.

Misty closed her eyes as though deeply considering what Ash had just said. She looked as though she wasn't sure if she should proceed or not. Still, something Ash had said must have struck her, for she began to describe her nightmares.

"Well, um, first of all I was very little. You see, I was with my parents, and we were driving in the car. Then the car crashed, and my parents died. My sisters blamed me for the accident because my parents were driving to my swimming lesson," Misty said very matter-of-factly. She then paused and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing. She was unsuccessful.

Ash noticed her tears, but realized that he couldn't let Misty stop now if he wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened.

"Go on," the Pokemon trainer coaxed his gym leader friend.

"Um, then I was a little older. I was with my sisters and they were putting on a water Pokemon ballet. I wanted to be in the show but they said I couldn't be because I was too ugly, that only pretty girls like themselves could be in the show."

"Is that all?" Ash questioned.

"Well, there was one dream after that, but I'd rather not talk about it," Misty answered.

Just when Ash was finally starting to get some answers! He couldn't stop now!

"Misty, you can tell me anything," Ash began.

Still, Misty continued to look away from Ash as the tears fell down her cheeks. Before he knew what he was doing Ash had gently placed his arm around her.

Ash wasn't sure why, but he was experiencing that strange feeling, the one he felt when he was with Misty and only Misty, very strongly. He had put his arm around her without thought and had expected himself to retract it soon thereafter out of sheer embarrassment and discomfort, but he had not. In fact, having his arm around Misty felt very good! Much to Ash's surprise, he was enjoying the moment.

Ash thought back to the moments in the hospital, when Misty had been sick from the Nightmare attack. He had felt the feeling strongly then, too. There was something about seeing Misty in distress that really hit a nerve with him. Sure, he didn't want to see any of his friends sad or sick, but he seemed to feel especially upset when something happened to Misty. Why was that? Just what was this strange feeling, anyway? What was this feeling that would cause him to want to risk his life for Misty, and to cause her to do the same for him? Did Misty experience this feeling, too?

"Ash..."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Misty." Ash had spaced out again. He needed to stop doing that! The young Pokemon trainer turned his attention back to the issues at hand. "Misty, can you tell me about the last dream?"

"I...I can't, Ash," Misty answered, pulling away from Ash's half-embrace.

"Why not?"

"It's too embarrassing."

"Misty, you don't have to be embarrassed in front of me! We're best friends, right? We can tell each other anything!" Ash replied enthusiastically.

Misty's face seemed to light up for a brief moment.

"Really, Ash? Do you really mean that? Are we really best friends?"

"Sure, Misty. You're the best friend I've got...well, you and Pikachu here," Ash stated, scratching his electric mouse Pokemon behind the ears.

Smiling softly, Misty turned towards Ash. "Thanks, Ash."

"You're welcome. Now, will you please tell me about the dream?"

"Well, OK, but you can't laugh at me and you can't tell anyone else," Misty responded.

"Deal."

"OK, well, here goes. You told me you hated me, Ash. You said I was ugly and mean and worthless and annoying and that you wished I would just disappear. That was the last dream," Misty finished faintly.

"I said those things?" Ash was really confused now.

"Yes, you said those things."

"Misty, I would never say those things," Ash reassured his friend.

"Well, how can I be sure of that, Ash? The dream seemed so real!"

"Is that what has you so upset? Those dreams?" Ash questioned, putting two and two together.

"Yes," Misty admitted.

"There's still one thing I don't understand, Misty. Why would those dreams make you too afraid to move when Buizel attacked you? Why did you run away after?"

"I was afraid, Ash. Since Darkrai attacked me I've been afraid of everything. When Buizel turned the Water Pulse attack towards us I was so scared I couldn't even move. Then I became afraid that it would attack again, so I did the only thing I could think to do; I ran away. I guess I'm afraid of getting hurt again. The Nightmare attack was so awful, and I'm afraid to experience it again," Misty explained.

"Well, I won't let anything else happen to you," Ash vowed.

"You...you'd do that for me, Ash?"

"Of course! Didn't I just get through telling you that you're my best friend?"

The dark expression on Misty's face immediately lifted. She reached over and hugged Ash tightly.

"Thank you, Ash."

"You're welcome, Mist."

Ash couldn't help but smile. He'd never felt this good before! Misty's hug made him feel all tingly inside, but it was not a bad feeling at all. He was enjoying it and was disappointed when she let go.

"What about the dreams, though, Ash?"

"What about them, Misty?"

"Well, don't you think there's some truth to them?"

"No, Misty, I don't. Is there any truth to them?"

"Well, I don't know. To be honest with you I don't remember my parents' death very well, and my sisters never flat out blamed me for their death, but I always had a feeling that they did. They never straight out called me ugly, either, but I always felt like they thought I was ugly. Of course, you've never said those things to me, but I've always been afraid that you would..."

"Don't you see, Misty? These are nothing but your worst fears, your worst nightmares; that's all. There's no truth to them," Ash reasoned.

"You really don't feel that way about me then?"

"Of course not! How many times do I have to tell you that you're my best friend?"

Misty smiled at Ash, a lovely, glowing smile that lit up her porcelain skin and seemed to brighten the room, a smile Ash was all too happy to see. He hadn't seen that smile in a while. Still, there was one more thing on his mind.

"Misty, there's just one thing I don't understand. When Darkrai went to attack us, why did you jump in front of me? Why would you risk your life for me?"

Misty cocked her head to the side, as if debating what to say. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she presented with an answer, though it wasn't one Ash had been expecting.

"Well, Ash, why did you do the same thing for me?"

"Huh?"

"When we were running back to the boat, you tripped and fell and urged me to go on. Isn't that practically doing the same thing?" Misty questioned.

"Well, of course I'd do that for you! You're my best friend!"

"Well, don't you think I'd do the same thing for you, then? You're my best friend, too, after all!"

It all made sense now. Misty took the attack for Ash because she cared about him, because he was her best friend, the same reasons Ash would have taken the attack for her. What of that feeling, though?

"Misty, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ash."

"It's just that, well, whenever you're around me, do you ever experience a strange sort of feeling? Don't get me wrong, because it's a good feeling, but it's a feeling you get when you're around nobody else."

Misty blushed, and a hefty grin came across her face.

"Yes, Ash, I get that feeling all of the time."

"Well, can you tell me what it means? I'm dying to find out!"

"I'm afraid not, Ash. That's one thing you'll have to figure out on your own. I'll tell you one thing, though. I'll wait until you figure it out."

"Come on, Misty! First Cresselia tells me I have to figure out something on my own, and I still haven't figured it out, and now you!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much, Ash. I think you figured out what Cresselia meant for you to figure out perfectly!"

With that, Misty gave Ash a soft kiss on the cheek.

The End

Author's Note: Well, that's the end. I'm sorry if the end seems abrupt, but I never intended for this to be a very long fic. I hope you're satisfied with it, though, and that you picked up on the meaning of Misty's last words and the big Pokeshipping hint. (If not, message me and I'll explain it to you.) I know it's not your typical "Ash and Misty confess their luv" fic and that it's more subtle than that, but, honestly, most of those fics stink and they're very hard to do well, so, since I have no self-confidence, I decided that I couldn't pull it off and didn't even try (although I arguably did try with White Wedding). Someday I hope to do an epic confession fic, but I don't have any ideas for one yet.

I know this chapter probably stinks and it's too dialogue intensive, but it was the best I could do under the time constraints I'm under. (I'm taking a summer course and have a ton of work, but I wanted to get this chapter out to you guys since I figured you've waited long enough.) If Misty seems out of character it's because she's not supposed to be herself because of the Nightmare, not because of a mistake on my part. I think the descriptions (the few that there are) are very clichéd in this chapter, so I apologize for that.

Lipana, you're right when you say that Ash and Co. have already met Darkrai in movie ten. I forgot to mention in one of my author's notes that I was completely disregarding the events of movie ten when writing this fic. I hope it's OK that I took that liberty.

Anyway, don't expect to see anything from me in the next three weeks because I'll have work for my class. I'm not sure what I'm going to write about next, but I can't seem to stay away from fanfiction and AAML long, so I'm sure something will come to me.

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review. :)


End file.
